Giveaway Scout!

have ya'll seen this website?  Giveaway scout is a place I just found that lists all blog giveaways!  I think this is such a great idea that I'll be adding their giveaway blogroll to my side bar...so go on, check them out!

homemade chili..for Cara!

editing b/c my mom reminded me of what i forgot!

My friend posted a request for a chili recipe...on twitter!  Here is my answer. :)

So, we love chili in my house...meaty, beany chili!  It is one of my favorite fall/winter meals...tho it can be hard to live with this many people after chili!  So here's how i do it...

Beans ( i like red kidney, dry, but you can make any kind!  i've done black, white, and pinto, or a mix!)
whole tomatos, diced tomatos, or tomato sauce
water
beef base (or boullion, or chicken, depending on what you put in it)
ground beef (or ground chicken, or ground turkey, or what ever you feel like)
chili powder
red pepper
black pepper
salt
onion
garlic
bell pepper (if you want and like it, i use red)
cumin
paprika (i prefer smoked)

ok, so i cook the beans until they are almost soft.  Then, in a separate pan, i saute the onion, garlic, and bell pepper, with the meat.  i stir them into the beans, then add a handful of chili powder, a pinch of red pepper, a good sprinkle of black pepper and salt, about 1/2 a handful of paprika, and 1/2 a palm full of cumin, then add the tomatoes.  I cook it down until the beans are soft and taking on all the flavors.

If you start with canned beans, you can easily put this in the crockpot, and it would be great!

CSN stores...and a giveaway!

I recently posted about my opportunity to review and giveaway a gift number from CSN stores!  Well, I finally made my purchase, and now, I want to tell you about it!

I ordered two different bags from CSN.  The first was a beach bag with a cooler style zippered pocket.  The second was a small cooler bag.  I was so excited to receive these b/c we had to leave this weekend, giving me the chance to use them BOTH!

The event we went to had a swimming pool, so the beach bag came in totally handy, even without the zippered cooler compartment!  however, my ice chest was totally full with the cupcakes and cheesecakes that I had to bring, so the zipper compartment came in quite handy.  I filled it with a full bag of grapes, two bags of cheese, a bag of cucumber slices, and a partial bag of pepperoni (turkey of course).  It all fit quite nicely, and I had a bit more room if I'd needed it!

The smaller bag cooler was great as well.  We used it for MM's...ahem...adult beverages.  It easily fit the 6 pack of "good stuff", though I don't think we could have fit any more in there.  It worked perfectly!

Overall, I had an excellent experience ordering from CSN.  Shipping probably would have been fine, except that UPS didn't deliver it b/c the driver didn't let me know she was here.  Long story short, delivery drivers should ALWAYS honk when they drive up!

So, on to the GIVEAWAY!!!  Head over to CSN and check them out...I'll be giving away one $20 gift number to a lucky reader!  Here are the rules:

Mandatory entry:  Head over to CSN and browse...come back and let me know what you'd like for the $20!
Separate entries: (please leave separate comments for each entry)

1 entry= follow me via google
1 entry=friend me on facebook
1 entry=follow me on twitter
1 entry=tweet about this giveaway (leave a different comment for each tweet including where i can find it!)
1 entry=post about this giveaway on facebook (leave a different comment for each post on fb too!)

So, you have a week...let me know what you think!  I'll use random.org to pick the winner for this giveaway on Tuesday, August 31!  Good luck!

New school year!

So today is our first day of school! just like each year before, we took first day of the year pics...you know you wanna see!

 AJ looking all pink and so excited. lol

 AR strikes a pose.

 CM tells mommy "i don't want my picture taken!"

 This was after the crazy pose by CG

Miss V, finishing breakfast while we start school!